I was wondering what oil to use for my Big Red 250 in winter. I thought synthetic oil would be good for winter, but many say not to use it because it will harm the auto clutch, especially if you've never used that oil in it before in the last 18 years. I live in manitoba, canada, where it gets to -40F in winter, but usually around -13 F to -22 Farenheit (-30C) (not kidding at all). So obviously it does get pretty cold. One thing is that when I use it, it's usually for about 2-3 hours straight on the trapline, so would the motor really heat up, therefore would 5-30 be too thin? What do you think?

JasonJ

 

Doesn't anybody know?

 

I don't know if this is right, but I use the same oil all year round, Castrol 4 stroke 10W40 motorcycle oil, been using it for 3 years now in my big red, never had one problem.

 

According to my clymer manual for my 110(im assuming the big red would be the same), you would use 10w40 below 18 degrees F and 20w50 above, so i would say 10w40, unless you can find a friction modifier free(that is what kills the wet clutches)5w30 then with temps as cold as you get i think that would be good.

 

in my 110 i put 20-50 and a little synthetic 0-40 mixed in
i just let it warm up a bit and its fine

 

5w30 is perfect for your application! i like valveoline. stay away from synthetic oil.

 

Isn't that too thin when the motor heats up after 2-3 hours of riding?

 

i don't ride my trikes too much in the winter (as soon as the snow flys, the snowmobiles come out [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img] ) but i keep the same oil (10w-40) in there all year round. i have started my trikes at 10 below with no problem. after starting it i let it idle for about a minute. then ride gently untill the engine feels warm.